


Your Love Covers A Multitude Of Sins

by WhenIFindLoveAgain



Category: (여자)아이들 | (G)I-DLE
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, British Comedy, Comedy, Declarations Of Love, Drama & Romance, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Feel-good, First Love, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Funny, Girls Kissing, Growing Up, Happy, Humor, Love, Love Confessions, Love at First Sight, Lovely, M/M, Religious Humor, Romance, Romanticism, Sad, Sweet, Tragedy/Comedy, True Love, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:20:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27174412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenIFindLoveAgain/pseuds/WhenIFindLoveAgain
Summary: A day in the life of painter Soojin and food-writer Shuhua's relationship between doing make up like Nigella Lawson, getting chased by geese, chauffeur rides in rolls Royce phantoms, music by alyona yarushina, classic fashion, how they first met, cafe culture, British food, the Thai take on "hard tea", the unfortunate side affects of hairspray, hilarious break ups from friends of friends, and, ultimately, Soojin and Shuhua think about their future, for both themselves as individuals but the two of them together(Posted on the 24th of October 2020 and finished on the 25th of October 2020)
Relationships: Cho Miyeon/Seo Soojin, Cho Miyeon/Yeh Shuhua, Jeon Soyeon/Yeh Shuhua, Seo Soojin/Minnie Nicha Yontararak, Seo Soojin/Yeh Shuhua, Song Yuqi/Minnie Nicha Yontararak, Song Yuqi/Yeh Shuhua, Yeh Shuhua/Minnie Nicha Yontararak
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	Your Love Covers A Multitude Of Sins

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Oh, I truly am so happy you are reading this! I do hope you have a nice time and you can take a warm energy from this work, and, come back to it for something nice :) this is basically a short story rather than a novella or a one-shot. I've got quite a lot still to write but I wanted to write this and give it to you all :) good luck xxx

"There, beautiful." Soojin smiled, taking her fingertips from Shuhua's face and observing the make-up she had just applied onto Shuhua's features. The two lovers had been woken up at half-six on a Saturday morning due to crows on the slate roof above their bedroom swearing extremely loudly, and, then, the butcher-boy birds terrifying the little red-beak birds, who, trying to have breakfast by pecking at the girl's garden, were dived-bombed like Lancasters over Dresden by the larger, grey birds. As a result, they had decided that instead of lying there for ages lethargically, they would get up, even though it was early on a Saturday morning.

Shuhua had asked Soojin if she could do her make-up like Nigella Lawson's. Soojin had laughed over that. Shuhua loved Nigella Lawson and her cooking and her television programs, especially the series from the early 2000's. Cooking, or, rather, specifically English cooking, had been how Soojin and Shuhua had met. Soojin was in a British-style cafe having a full-on row with the gay owner's who were "hesitant" on paying her comission for the twelve-by-eight meter painting she had done on their raised Scandinavian wood-plank ceiling, as well as frost sketching on the square-funnel Scandinavian sky-light, five, six meters above the cafe floor. The painting was of of a starry night sky, a midsummer night's universe. It was a thing of beauty, and, had been an incredible labour of Soojin's time. "You cunts!" Soojin howled. "It's precisely this sort of mincing about that makes people hate gays!"

"How dare you judge us -" One of the gay men had begun, his bald head gleaming, and, Soojin had really done her nut.

"I'M A LESBIAN!" She roared. "So don't you DARE start on me about homo-fucking-phobia! I've been here for six fucking weeks doing your bloody painting and I know for a fact that you do this to everyone! My Dad is friends with the plumbers you wouldn't pay after fixing the 1920's sewage line, and my Godfather is the giant electrician who you held out FOR SIX MONTHS!"

Everyone in the cafe listened, and, quite obviously to the gay men, the good opinion of they themselves and their enterprise was been flushed down the drain.

"YOU BITCHES ARE THE REASON THAT EVERYONE SAYS GAYS ARE SELFISH, IGNORANT, PIGS!" Soojin further went on, pointing at them violently, startling them. "JUST BECAUSE YOU LIKE BUM SEX IT DOESN'T MAKE YOU A MASTER HUMAN BEING, IT DOESN'T MAKE LGBT PEOPLE A MASTER RACE, OVER ANYONE ELSE! YOU ARE APALLING, TREATING PEOPLE SO BADLY THEN USING YOUR SEXUALITY AS AN EXCUSE! NOT A SINGLE PERSON COMES INTO THIS CAFE AND DOESN'T PAY YOU ON THE GROUNDS OF, "OH, I'M STRAIGHT"!"

Perhaps ironically, or, rather, deservedly, the whole cafe applauded the breathless, red-cheeked girl. 

"Pay me now," Soojin glared at the two of them men, now trembling. "Or I will put fucking acid on it." She pointed to the painting on the ceiling. One of the men burst into tears, and, the other, tight-jawed, randomly and roughly grabbed bank-notes out of the full till and thrust them at her. Soojin cackled.

"You are also now going to cook me breakfast and if you spit, shit, or piss on it I will rip your fucking face apart!" Soojin smiled widely. 

Not a single person left the cafe, all seeing this increidble event. On top of that, the cafe was packed, so, Soojin, now a bit more meek, had to ask a pretty, fine-boned featured girl quietly if she could share her table.

The girl smiled.

"Yeah, of course, seeing as you have done all the work it's not right that they won't pay." The girl gestured to the seat opposite her. Soojin got into it gingerly, glancing back up the cafe to see the money scattered across the floor.

"Sorry for you hearing that." Soojin mumbled. "But if you don't -"

"Oh, no, I understand." The girl beamed, before giggling. "You're very pretty for a lesbian." She told Soojin. Soojin laughed.

"Yeah, I know, most of them are revolting." Soojin scrunched her nose. The girl's hand rose to her ovular-fallen mouth, her eyes wide.

"Welcome to the real world," Soojin remarked. "Most lesbians think gay men are mincing prats, most gay men think lesbians are pigs, but, they all suck up each other's arse because some have the belief that they should be worshipped as gods for liking other boys or girls, and, other's do it just because they think it's the right thing."

"And in the end..." Shuhua gazed at Soojin, waiting for her to talk in a way that was both vulnerable by searching, out of her depth.

"It's all fake." Soojin simply put, resting her elbows on the table and folding her forearms over one another.

The girl went silent. "I thought things were nice." She fiddled with her fingers in her lap.

Soojin gazed at her. "I'm sorry, love." Soojin reached across the table and pressed the girl's hand momentarily. "I'm Soojin."

"Shuhua." The girl told her, a form of honesty filling up in her eyes which made something within Soojin quake, and, as a result, made her lose her head. 

"You're very thin." Soojin looked at Shuhua. She was dressed in a light pink cotton sundress with a black lace hem at the bottom of the a-line dress with no sleeves and a halter-neck. Shuhua's oak-toned skin made a antique gold heart-shaped necklace pendant illuminate, and, her black hair was put into a scroll-bun on top of her head with the front sections of her jaw-legnth fringe parted at the centre in thin, pretty dark wisps. Shuhua had tone-colours through her hair; the scroll-knot of her hair was pink, and, the two wisps of hair sectioned at the front of her face were half-blonde, half-black. The blonde streaks were visble at either side of her head as well. Shuhua had on natural make-up, naturally-made-up thick eyebrows, nude foundation, and a natural lip-tint, but, Soojin thought Shuhua, now able to bask in her company, was the most delightful sight she had seen in a very long time. Soojin's heart sped up. But she'll be bloody straight, you watch, Soojin thought to herself.

"You're very thin, too." Shuhua giggled, and, a tsunami wave of relief rushed over Soojin. Soojin saw Shuhua looking at her, and, Soojin suddenly felt a bit self-concious, not of her body, but, of her clothes. Soojin was wearing ripped black boyfriend jeans, a black cardigan, and, her black doc martens - she was going to wear wedge-heels that day but she thought there could be a situation where she'd be chasing a queen about with a broomstick. Soojin didn't have any make-up or jewelry on, and, she had never dyed her hair or done anything to it apart from letting it grow very long. It was in a curtain part, and, Soojin knew that she had deep bags beneath her eyes, and, quite unfortunately, a little bit of a break-out she knew was caused by absent-mindedly thumbing her face while watching the evening news the previous night.

Fucking hell, Soojin thought to herself.

But, there had been no reason for Soojin to worry. Shuhua was loving and sweet and attentive in her manner, and, it healed Soojin's regret, and, to be honest, shame where Shuhua was concerned. Soojin wasn't quite sure what to make of Shuhua; Is she been nice to me because it's now a open matter that I like girls, or, did my luck just come? Soojin couldn't help but think as Shuhua continued to have her coffee, and, shared the slice of carrot cake she had ordered with Soojin. In the end, the gay couple who owned the cafe didn't make Soojin breakfast, but, she made amends for the matter by her earlier spray compelling every customer leaving the shop with herself and Soojin and not pay. Older customers stopped people in the street and warned them to not go in the cafe, while, the younger ones put it all over the internet what twats the owner's were. 

Soojin didn't bother to go back and scrape any of the money that was thrown at her from the floor.

She had got Shuhua instead.

All of that led to now, seven months later. Soojin had actually asked out Shuhua five days after she met her. Obscure as it was, Soojin knew herself, but, she just couldn't help herself, Shuhua had asked Soojin to wait and see if they could form a deeper connection, and, so they had. It had been so lovely, and, in the process of the evolution of their relationship, Soojin had learnt patience, and, had learned a new sort of love, one that wasn't instantly blinding and intoxicating, instead, a love that grew, that nurtured, a love that stayed where the blinding and the intoxicating ones just so easily were burnt out by fate. 

Soojin carefully drew dark brown eyeliner across Shuhua's eyelids that were painted with coffee and cream toned colours. In their large bedroom with a raised, sixteen-foot ceiling, with cream walls and ceiling with Edwardian-era wainscotting and cornices, they had a large acorn table with a round face and claw-footed legs. Soojin had sat Shuhua at it on one of the matching chairs, upholstered with cream-fabric seats, and, had set about. Most of the furniture had come from Soojin's brother, who had a Antique shop that specialized in selling genuine Welsh, Scandinavian, Jewish and French furniture between the Victorian and Art Deco periods in Korea and the rest of East Asia. It had made their old house pretty, and, some pieces Soojin couldn't help but he disconcerted by, the lack of the Scandinavian Neo-Modernish that had taken over the world, but, she had grown to love the pieces over time. Soojin's brother had told her all about the furniture when he first gave it to them, but, it had gone in one of Soojin's ears and out the other, but, luckily, Shuhua remembered, and, over time, Shuhua had had to teach Soojin which bit was which. "Sometimes I wished I looked like her." Shuhua opened the eye not being worked on to look at Soojin. "What is she?"

"Israelite Jew, bit of Eastern European, Anglo-Saxon Breton." Soojin said. Soojin had to stop doing Shuhua's make-up as they burst out laughing. They shared a friend, named Miyeon, who was a geneaologist and anthropologist, and, even without her antropology study, had a downright brilliant knack for being able to look at someone and tell what they were. 

"You'll look a bit different, obviously, you're Taiwanese, but, I think I do a good job." Soojin chuckled softly.

"Miyeonnie's really good at how she does that right?" Shuhua remarked.

"Yeah, brilliant, now let me finish it up." Soojin patted Shuhua's hair, finishing the dark eye-pencil on her other eye, then, getting the blusher and the round brush to put it on her cheeks.

"Do you want to ask the girls if they want to come around for breakfast?" Shuhua said as Soojin fished around in her make-up bag for the chocolate-red toned lipstick that looked lovely with the classic brunette European make-up. "Or, have morning tea or something later?"

"It'd just be Minnie and Yuqi." Soojin replied. "Soyeon's got a nine-thirty appointment with that dermatologist about that problem of hers -"

"Oh, that's right!" Shuhua had genuinely forgot. Soyeon for the past few weeks had been having a hell of a time with a dermatitis that was all over her hands, wrists, arms, and, somehow, had started to appear on her breasts. At first, even Soojin and Shuhua had given the opinion that she might have had a reaction to soap that didn't agree with her, but, despite constant moisterizing and care, five weeks later, it was still there. Soyeon had gone for an inital appointment and it was found that she had a bacteria compound in the dermatitis that her body had half-attributed too in an effort to heal itself of the rash. 

"And Miyeon's giving a speech with that Russian man about that book they wrote together on Mongol-Serbian anthropology to people like them, other antropology-sort people." Soojin finished Shuhua's make-up. Shuhua went into the bathroom. 

"Thank's, baby!" She called out, clearly thrilled. She came back into the bedroom. "Come on, come on, get a photo of me." Shuhua giggled.

Suddenly, Soojin burst out laughing, but, for a completely different reason.

"You've got the gown like her, too!" Shuhua, who was just in a candy-floss pink cotton nightie with daisies patterned across it with a blue cotton button-up pyjama shirt hanging open over the top, was the owner of a black silk dressing gown that her Mum had bought her for her sixteenth birthday, long before Shuhua had known of the delightful Nigella Lawson. Shuhua beamed widely, but, it fell a moment later.

"I haven't got the boobs, though." Shuhua cupped her breasts, looking down at them.

Soojin cackled. "I'll get the oranges from the kitchen." She remarked.

"Oh!" Shuhua scowled momentarily, kicking out at Soojin, before laughing too. In the end, Shuhua gave in; she changed into her black silk dressing gown, and, for Soojin's humor, put two oranges into the blouse of the crossed and tied robe.

"Actually looks pretty realistic." Was Soojin's verdict as she nearly wet herself laughing and let Shuhua have the opinion of her fake girly bits.

"Oh my God, it does!" Shuhua exclaimed.

In the end, Shuhua and Soojin had breakfast to themselves, but, they made the morning tea plans with Yuqi and Minnie. "Oh, no, can't guts myself." Shuhua told herself after having four small pears and letting Soojin give her Scottish Builder's Tea to drink. Scottish Builder's Tea was a concotion of extra strong English-Breakfast tea served in a sterilized tin can that once held nuts or bolts - one had to remember this was invented by dock-workers - with four spoons of sugar. It was strong, sweet, hot, and, absolutely massive. Shuhua and Soojin half lay down together on the modern-made cream-fabric upholstered chesterfield-style sofa with the upholstered body studded with brass as was tradition. 

"Be more worried about needing to wee every five minutes." Soojin went to drink some of Shuhua's tea - about half drunk - when, suddenly a huge grin came onto her face. "Oh no, my God, the pears."

"What?" Shuhua looked at the love of her life, a half smile coming onto her face from not understanding what Soojin meant.

"You'll be farting your arse off all day." Soojin cackled, balancing the tin can of Scottish Builder's tea on her flat stomach.

"God, you're a crude bitch." Shuhua sighed, putting Soojin's tea on the floorboards - out of the way where they could accidentally knock it over and make a mess - and lay down on Soojin.

"Yeah, but you like it rough." Soojin nuzzled Shuhua's neck, echoing the joys of their bedroom and mildly uncouth personalities.

"COW!" Shuhua howled. "You are so getting tortued in a mediavel manner invented by the chuckle brothers by Yuqi and Minnie later!"

Later on, Soojin reflected that she had always admired Shuhua over one particular thing; when it came to entertaining, she was the grand mistress of it. "I always wanted to be different from other food writers." Shuhua had told Soojin when Soojin found out what their job was. "I didn't want to be a fat arse and I didn't want to be on of those horrible ones that makes themselves vomit whatever they tasted, but, most of all, most other food writer's are just awful people, so, I just did my best to be nice."

And, it was Shuhua's kindly nature that rose above all, sometimes.

"Right, Minnie's bringing coffee, tea, and, hard tea." Shuhua checked off her fingers as she packed a picnic hamper.

"What's hard tea in Thailand?" Soojin remarked, stacking the dishwasher.

"Tea with a cocktail in it." Shuhua answered.

Soojin snorted a laugh.

"No, no, that would be revolting." Shuhua stretched her back, her arms raising above her head. "She's still going out with that boy whose family has that brewary; they do all the nice old sorts, whisky, brandy, rum, the ones that warm your heart up." She smiled.

"What happened to that boy Yuqi was with?" Soojin asked.

Shuhua pasued. She couldn't remember. She looked at Soojin. Soojin looked at her.

"HE DECIDED HE WAS GAY!" The two of them shouted at the same time, snapping their fingers.

"Oh, fuck, how did we forget that?!" Soojin laughed.

Shuhua went out to check the lettbox, came back in with a handful of bills, and, asked Soojin, "What's the time?"

Soojin looked at the microwave. "Four minutes past eight."

"What?" Shuhua's head shot up from reading who precisely was extorting them. "It feels like we've been up forever!"

"We sort of have." Soojin commented. Shuhua looked down at herself. She was still in her black silk robe.

"What do you think I should wear?" She asked.

"Well, nothing works with Nigella face other than classic Italian fashion which is basically the manner. Her make-up is classic Italian - Sofia Loren, Monica Belluci, Ava Gardner, etc." Soojin remarked, her artist self coming to light, the sense of designing the finished product. "Italian make-up needs a nice sun-dress - dark - with a trench-coat, two things you own."

Shuhua giggled, doing as she was told. 

Miyeon was the only one apart from Shuhua who knew, but, where Shuhua had it from experience, Miyeon found out because she sometimes had the incredibly invasive skill of perfectly analyzing human psychology, behaviours, raising, education, mannerisms regarding each, every and any individual.

Soojin was Shuhua's "Daddy", as Soyeon would put it, but, Shuhua didn't call Soojin that and Soojin never asked her to do it.

Shuhua could still feel herself trembling whenever she was with Soojin around Miyeon. Miyeon had once done something jaw-dropping: she had proved she had the skill to tell when all her friends last had sex. "You two, this morning -" Miyeon had pointed that time to Soojin and Shuhua. "Minnie, three to five days ago, Yuqi hasn't had any this Autumn, and, Soyeon hasn't had any of it for three years."

Shuhua distinctly remembered all of them looking to Soyeon sympathetically, while, Soyeon had glared at Miyeon.

"Right, Doctor, what does this expression read in human psyche shit?" Soyeon had pointed to her chin.

Miyeon wasn't exactly tactful. "You're experiencing shame and regret over renewed memories of your ex boyfriends - good and bad - and, then, a further humiliation at your conduct to those sad boyfriends which made some of them leave you. It's somewhat debilitating for you, because you frequently have flashbacks, particuarly concerning that boy, Aaron, and, you always dismiss these memories with a mutter of "cunt" beneath your breath, but, it's not Aaron you are referring to as a cunt, it's your own self you mean. Oh, and then there is now where you can't believe all your friends who had perfectly active carnal lives have just found out that you have none, and, honestly, there's nothing anyone can do about it, least of all, you, because, you can't get over Aaron but there's no way he's coming a square mile within you again."

Soyeon had just about blown her top.

"Babe?" Soojin went into their bedroom and found Shuhua sitting on their bed, still in her black silk robe.

"Sorry, I got thinking." Shuhua mumbled, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Soojin asked.

"Just thinking about how Miyeon knows about our sex lives because we emotionally leak or something like that and you remember the time that she said about Soyeon?" Shuhua told Soojin.

Soojin nodded, crossing her arms. "Yeah..." She said softly. 

Soojin laid down on their bed and watched Shuhua get dressed. Shuhua wore a burgundy half sleeved ankle-length wool-knit dress with a dark-denim jacket, and, kept her thick, silky hair loose around her being. 

"We have to do something otherwise we'll go mad." Shuhua cuddled into Soojin's side.

"Let me get something decent on and we can go and do something daft." Soojin kissed Shuhua's forehead. 

Shuhua watched, laying on her side with her head on one of her arms as Soojin put on her black tights and a white cardigan mini dress. 

"Let's go out an be silly until about half-ten and I'll call up Brian." Soojin beamed. Brian was a friend of her's an ran a private cab service as a chauffer for the Ritz Carlton hotel, but, as it was a weekend, he was a chauffer for anyone who would pay him.

Except for Soojin. She was his favourite girl in the whole wide world. Brian was twenty-eight and like a giant teddy bear with fluffy black hair that had a full fringe with a square face and lovely chocolate-button eyes, a muscled body, all matched with a lovely smile and a height of six foot three. Unbeknownst to Shuhua, Soojin couldn't count the amount of times that Brian had driven her home while she cried in the back seat, him putting a cigarettes after sex record into the radio of his rolls royce phantom as to try soothe her as they drove through the inner city of seoul, glaring and bright and horrifically cold and intrusive and electronic and fake.

Soojin knew she would die if Brian ever ignored her, or, didn't want to see her. Whenever she texted him, if he didn't respond by the next day, nauseating fear and anxiety flooded her body, making her dizzy. He's finally had enough, she would think weakly, her head and vision swimming. He's had enough of putting up with me...

But, each and everytime, Brian would come in and save her, and, Soojin knew that after five years of knowing him, that, if he didn't text, it meant that something had stopped him from doing it. 

For an hour or two, Soojin and Shuhua wandered about their local streets, taking photos of the flower's blooming in the soft spring sunshine of people's gardens - lavender, roses, peonies, carnations, hyacinths, lilies, violets, magnolias - "Maggies!" Shuhua pointed out happily, Magnolia's being her favourite flowers - and daffodils. Soojin, techincally illegally, bent over the person's front fence so far that Shuhua had to desperately pull the hem of Soojin's cardigan dress down so her bottom in her black tights was flashed to the whole universe - just so Soojin could pick two magnolia blooms on their ashy-grey stem for Shuhua, sliding each one behind her ears, matching beautifully with her black hair, the pink and blonde dye that Shuhua had had in it when she and Soojin had first met grown out. As a result, when she and Soojin wandered past the cafe's - for the sole purpose of spotting sweetheart babies - men blushed and smiled and girl's jaws dropped in a form of jealously, and, if their skin didn't mottle beneath lardy foundations, their eyes did. 

"Get fucked!" Soojin sung softly to them under her breath, kissing Shuhua's cheek as they walked down the street. They crossed at the traffic lights to the library, went inside, and, while Shuhua went to have a look at the film section for something to tuck into her handbag once registered for later that evening, Soojin called Brian and asked him if the girl's - immaculately clean - could come into his rolls royce.

"No worries, my dear." The giant teddy bear in a tailored suit told her, and, Soojin's heart sung.

Soojin collected Shuhua who had found a film - "It's called Youth and has Michael Cainton in it!" Shuhua told her enthusiastically - and, they waited outside beneath a ash oak tree for Brian to come and collect them.

"No, no, no!" Soojin half-shouted into her phone to Minnie while Shuhua texted Yuqi. "Don't get the bus into town, we'll come and get you - you're getting a ride in a Rolls Royce Phantom!"

"What...coffin car?" Minnie hesitantly said, the affectionate term for Rolls Royce Phantoms, who, admittedly, after the 1964 model all had the look of "coffin on wheels" thanks to the body shape.

"My bloke's £500,000 coffin car." Soojin confirmed.

Minnie screamed in delight. "I FUCKING LOVE YOU, SISTER!" Soojin could hear Minnie's heeled sandals thumping against the ground of her garden as she jumped up and down in ecstasy, the young woman having just been watering her hibiscus blooms. 

Within fifteen minutes, all the girls were in the beautiful cream-leather interior upholstered black Rolls Royce Phantom with "Edge Of Seventeen" by Alyona Yurashina playing on the radio.

"Baby, stop!" The girl sung along happily, the magnolias tucked into Shuhua's hair by Soojin filling the beautiful car with a lovely scent. Yuqi and Minnie had got about a hundred photographs, all completely proud to be able to call their parent's later that evening and be able to say them, "Oh my God, Mum, Dad, you won't believe what happened today!". Yuqi had lighted her hair to a pretty ginger colour, and, Minnie had recently dyed her hair a lovely shade of rose-gold. Both of the girls were dressed in white linen - Yuqi had on a mini-dress with 1970's fan-sleeves from the elbow and white-leather boots with black laces dandelions painted up the side, while Minnie wore a rose-printed white smock dress, her gold lip and nose rings glinting in the sun-light, her black high heels a sharp contrast to the whole vision. Soojin had briefly wondered if Brian would mind it all later, but, Soojin's better senses appealed to Soojin, telling her that Brian would be delighted to have his expensive car full of pretty girls. "Nothing else matters!"

"Soojie, go!" Shuhua called for Soojin to sing the next line.

"He was no more -" Soojin sung.

"He was no more -" The girls provided the echoing backing track. 

"Than a baby then!" Soojin finished the line. "When he seemed broken-hearted -"

"Something within him!" The girls provided additional back-up.

"But the moment that I first lay eyes on him all alone on the edge of seventeen -!" The girls all sung operatically together, then, they let Brian sing the chorus with Alyona Yurashina still murmuring in the background, and, to Shuhua's amazement, for, Soojin had never told her that Brian could sing like Stevie Wonder.

"Just like the white-winged dove

Sings a song

Sounds like she's singing

Ooh, baby, ooh

Said, ooh

Just like the white-winged dove

Sings a song

Sounds like she's singing

Ooh, baby, ooh

Said, ooh."

"BABY!" Soojin applauded, beaming brightly as she caught his beautiful dark eyes in the rear-vision mirror of the car as the other girl's danced and ran their hands through their hair and vocalized happily.

The picnic was delightful. There was no spring showers, just warm, beautiful sunshine in the botanic gardens. Shuhua had worried that the cold roast chicken from the previous evening she had roasted might have gone funny in the picnic basket, but, it was lovely.

"Mm, you are good, honey." Minnie half-covered her mouth as she spoke with it full, eating a plate of cold chicken and roast potatoes. 

"Babe, that breads stale." Soojin coughed, having a bite out of a slice from a quart-loaf in brown paper to put some jam on.

"Yeah, it's for the ducks, sweetheart." Shuhua explained.

"Oh, that's great!" Yuqi beamed. 

"It usually goes out for the birds in the garden but the duckies can have it today." Shuhua got up in her black dress, and, hand in hand with Yuqi, walked over to the edge of the lake in the middle of the gardens, and, fed the ducks, tearing up pieces of bread to throw to them.

Minnie and Soojin watched after them in pleasant silence. Soojin's eyes soon slid away to a metal flask. "Is that the cocktail made in a bucket in a cup of earl grey my darling told me about?" Soojin asked, picking up the flask, taking off the top, and, sniffed it.

Minnie nodded with a giggle. "Not a cocktail." She shook her head, tucking some of her rose-gold hair behind her ears. "Brandy in earl grey."

Soojin hummed and took a sip but cackled straight after as warmth filled up her throat and chest. "Oh, sugar," She cooed. "Tell your boyfriend that I'm up on thanking him for warming me tits up like that."

"Oh, you uncouth tart!" Minnie covered her face in shame but laughed at Soojin's mimicking at a Gloucestershire accent. 

"No, I'll be honest, that's really nice." Soojin giggled appreciatively. "What's the brand name?"

Minnie told her. "That's my man's family's label." She explained. Soojin hummed.

"And, seeing as we got the lovely Brian to drive us home, I'm going to drink all of this." Soojin pointed at it, pouted, and, nodded frankly.

Unseen by Minnie and Soojin, busy between themselves, Shuhua and Minnie had just been approached by the Seoul's Botanical Gardens flock of geese, who, took over the world when stale bread came into the question, especially in the hands of defenceless young damsels.

Yuqi and Shuhua screeched as five geese - all waist-high, absolutely tremendous beasts - approached them dartedly. "RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY!!!" They howled, jogging off with their skirts around their thighs - well, Shuhua anyway - and sped off across the lawn, but, the geese flew after them.

Soojin and Minnie watched on silently at the whole affair. "Silly bitches." Soojin remarked. "They're still holding the fucking bread."

And, indeed, Shuhua still was holding the bed.

But, before Soojin and Minnie could go after their friends and lovers to rescue them, some young men having lunch beat them to it, kicking, roaring and chasing away the geese before positively falling over in delight over the extremely pretty and grateful Shuhua and Yuqi.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Minnie and Soojin said at the same time. 

"Look at the pricks!" Soojin pointed at the scene. "They're got our women! WARFARE!"

Soojin and Minnie jogged over, but, there was nothing bad. Just as they came over, the girls were heading back to them, pink-cheeked and giggling.

"Oh, they were gentlemen!" Yuqi airely announced, stilly giggling like mad, a arm around Shuhua's shoulder and her other arm raised gracefully like a soprano upon her stage.

"Oh, get a grip, you tart." Minnie told her off.

In the midst of all of this, no one noticed that Soojin was beginning to wobble. And, when Soojin's head fell onto Shuhua's shoulder in the back of Brian's Rolls Royce as he took them all back to Shuhua and Soojin's so Shuhua could show off her newly-bloomed garden, Soojin mumbled enough occasionally to convince her friends that she wasn't alseep. It didn't occur to anyone that she had had quite a bit too much to drink, too early in the day.

The girls only realized the severity when they pulled up outside Shuhua and Soojin's home.

"Jesus Christ!" Minnie gaped, looking down at Soojin when she, Yuqi, Shuhua and Brian couldn't make the comatose girl up. "How are we going to wake her up?!"

"We need to carry her -" Yuqi babbled.

"I will carry her." Brian's deep, rich and soothing masucline voice informed them gently, and, the strong, tall man did indeed carry inside the woozy Soojin, who, half-mumbled to herself as Brian carried her over the threshold via the back door, for, the front door was big enough to get himself and Soojin through in her current state.

Shuhua and Minnie went into the kitchen to get ice packs, and, Brian went back outside to lock up his Phantom, the doors still hanging open, and, this gave Yuqi the opportunity to do something rather evil.

She picked up a can of Shuhua's hairspray and, as she shook it up, she apologised to Soojin.

"Sorry, luvvy." Yuqi told her, before spraying some of the noxious substance in the air above Soojin's face. Within five seconds, Soojin was awake, coughing and spluttering, as though she had just inhaled the scent of agent orange rather than hairspray, but, in all honesty, hairspray probably had agent orange as a sub-ingredient. 

"BABE!" Shuhua hollered, and, she rushed into herself and Soojin's bedroom with Minnie to see Yuqi helping Soojin back to their bed. Soojin, now awake but still tipsy, gazed lovingly at Shuhua and giggled. Shuhua rushed over to her, and, Soojin's hands closed gently either side of Shuhua's face.

"You are so beautiful." Soojin told her softly. "My beautiful girl..." Her eyes ran over Shuhua's face. "Israelite Jewish...Anglo Breton...Mediterranian Europa...size sixteen chefs with bald husbands...are not as beautiful as you." Soojin said of Nigella Lawson where Shuhua was concerned.

"Aw..." The girls cooed softly.

"I think you'd better sleep, Soojie." Shuhua convinced Soojin to nod off, and, she did within a few short minutes, her hands still on Shuhua's face and hair as she did. Shuhua smiled as she took away Soojin's heavy, lethargic hands, and, they went out into the kitchen to see that Brian had made tea for them all and he was minding his own business in the dining room.

"What did she drink?" He asked simply. Minnie told him. Suddenly, the teddy-bear man grinned.

"Oh, she's shocking with brandy." He commented before leaving them in peace in his gentle, respectful manner, promising to call Soojin before bed that night.

For the next hour, Shuhua showed Yuqi and Minnie her flowers - as plentiful as the other gardens in the city - and, Shuhua waved them off from the footpath outside in their elm-tree lined street as the girls departed in a black cab. 

Soojin woke up about seven-thirty, and, didn't stop needing to wee every fifteen minutes - much to Shuhua's hilarity - for three hours.

"Oh, darling...!" Shuhua still laughed as Soojin's system finally got rid of Minnie's "hard tea".

"I am so sorry." Soojin told Shuhua sincerely, collapsing onto the chesterfield sofa with her, dressed in her tartan pyjama's, a trouser and shirt set that Brian gave her for Yuletide as a bit of a novelty gift with a stuffed black scottie dog - a toy one - and a box of McVitie's shortbread.

"It's ok." Shuhua chucked her girlfriend's chin softly. "We all get to be silly sometimes, and, today was your turn, but, it was very funny and you were very sweet, so, it wasn't that silly at all." She pressed her nose and forehead up against Soojin's tenderly before giving her a gentle kiss. "We're alright, sweetheart." Shuhua cuddled tightly into Soojin's side, and, Soojin half-chuckled to herself, loving it when Shuhua climbed all over and wanted to cuddle into her.

"I sometimes wonder how you put up with me." Soojin later confessed as they watched the film Shuhua had got from the Library, "Youth", whispering into Shuhua's hair.

"It's no bother for me," Shuhua whispered to Soojin. "I wouldn't want anyone else, because, why leave you and give myself to someone - anyone - who will always be lesser than you?" Shuhua's head tipped upward to look at Soojin. "You're such a cool lady." Shuhua smiled lightly. "I pressed those flower's you pinched for me." A smouldering glow filled up Shuhua's eyes. "I love you, sweetheart."

Soojin held onto Shuhua tightly, nuzzling her face into Shuhua's neck.

"I couldn't do without you." Soojin told Shuhua. "You're my rock."

Soojin wondered if Shuhua could feel the tears seep into her hair.

"Like a river flows..." Shuhua sung softly a little while later. "Surely to the sea...

Darling, so it goes

Some things are meant to be."

Soojin held on tightly to Shuhua, rocking them back and forth slightly. 

"Take my hand

Take my whole life

For I can't help

Falling in love you with you."


End file.
